


Here's a Hero's Hero

by Shadaras



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), Wonder Woman (2017)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-12 03:02:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11152881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadaras/pseuds/Shadaras
Summary: Alex Danvers meets Wonder Woman, who is amazing and mythological and Kara's hero. And who, very clearly, thinks that Kara's awesome too.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is very much for my dear friend who, upon being told that I wanted to write something about Diana and Kara, helped me get sidetracked into the idea that Diana and M'gann were friends. The rest of this came from there.

Diana Prince walks into a bar.

(It’s not the setup for a joke, as much as it sounds like one.)

Diana Prince walks into a bar, wearing a wine-red cloak over a flowing dress the color of dusk and golden bangles on her wrists and in her ears. Not that Alex sees her, at first; she’s watching Maggie set up her shot and trying to figure out if she more hopes that Maggie will miss (because she could win if she got all the angles right, and Alex wants another shot at winning herself) or get it perfectly (because watching Maggie be competent and gleeful about victory is _awesome_ ).

Maggie misses the shot.

It’s not like usual, where she does her best and then it doesn’t work because she miscalculated something; those shots Maggie watches with grim frustration written all over her face. This time, Maggie fumbles. Her cue hits the ball, but it’s weak; if Alex weren’t so concerned, she’d tease Maggie by saying that shot looked like one of Winn’s. But Maggie’s staring at something—someone?—across the speakeasy, and Alex turns to follow her gaze, ready to fight if it’s a bad ex.

It’s not.

It’s one of the most gorgeous women Alex has ever seen.

She’s got confidence to die for in every stride she takes—and she’s definitely striding, not walking. Underneath her cloak, her arms are bare, and Alex recognises the feeling of not knowing in what way she wants to have a body like that, because _damn_ , those muscles. She wants them. And also wants to touch them. Either or both would be good. The watch on the woman’s wrist seems almost out of place, it’s so old and ordinary compared to the high-society outfit she’s wearing.

And then she looks around the room, and Alex gets a good look at her face and squeaks.

Squeaking is undignified. Squeaking is the sort of thing Kara does and doesn’t feel ashamed by, because she’s just so excited she can’t keep it in. Squeaking is _not_ something that Alex Danvers does.

Except that it’s _Wonder Woman_ , and she totally understands why Maggie missed the shot now, because seeing Wonder Woman is enough to excuse practically any misstep. Squeaking is understandable, in this situation. Alex looks back at Maggie, whose expression has to be similar to her own, and if that’s anything to go by neither of them is really dignified right now. Overawed. That’s probably a good word for what they are.

_Is that—?_ Alex mouths to Maggie, who nods, wide-eyed.

They both turn back to Wonder Woman, in time to see M’gann walk up to her with two drinks and a giant smile. Wonder Woman hugs her.

_Hugs her._

She envelops her in that wine-red cloak, and it’s so obvious how M’gann leans into the embrace, even if M’gann doesn’t return the hug—the drinks in her hands prevent that. Instead, she kisses Wonder Woman’s cheek and hands her one of the drinks. Wonder Woman takes it, and their fingers brush.

They both go off to a corner table, with all the casual intimacy and familiarity of people who have known each other for years.

Alex manages to pull her jaw shut.

Maggie moves first, putting her pool cue down on the table without regard for how it might mess up the game. It’s a foregone conclusion that they aren’t playing anymore; there’s something much more important to discuss.

Alex leans forward onto the pool table and says, voice steady out of practice more than anything else, “I’m not imagining this, right? That’s Wonder Woman?”

Maggie nods. Alex can see her in the periphery of her vision. Neither of them have stopped looking towards M’gann and Wonder Woman. They’ve got a basket of french fries, and are eating steadily through them while talking. It’s incongruous with what Alex had always imagined of the quasi-mythological figure she’d grown up on stories of, and who Kara had long ago decided was her personal hero and role model. If her cousin had ever met Wonder Woman, he’d never made mention of it.

“We’ve _got_ to talk to her.”

“Or at least get her autograph,” Alex adds. She slides her hand across the table’s edge to Maggie’s. As soon as they touch, Maggie grabs her hand, squeezing tightly. Alex leans into her girlfriend, and watches as Wonder Woman reaches out to touch M’gann’s face, both their faces softening. Alex nudges Maggie, and asks, very quietly in case Wonder Woman had super-hearing but didn’t talk about it, “Are they _together_?”

Maggie shrugs, the motion clear against Alex’s arm. “Maybe? Who knows how their cultures work.” She leans her head against Alex’s shoulder. “If I saw them and had no idea who they were, though, I’d probably sort of assume they were dating, yeah.”

Alex feels her heart skip, beats hard against her chest. She can’t tell if she’s holding Maggie’s hand too hard, because Maggie’s holding just as tight. All the stories about Wonder Woman said she’d had no father, just a mother, and that she’d never met a man before she’d appeared in the world to stop a war. But stories were one thing. And stories never said anything about if she was gay. The stories just spoke of how strong she was. How unstoppable. Powerful. Sure of herself. How she believed in the inherent goodness and worth of everyone she met, and how she raised up everyone around her.

And the whispers of how of _course_ she had to be gay, or bi—because there were tales of how deeply she’d loved the men she fought with—but no pictures. No first-hand, or even second-hand, stories that could be backed up with enough proof to make the media carry the stories wholesale instead of just letting children wonder and be rebuffed. Maggie knew more hearsay myths, and had told Alex about them once, when Wonder Woman had come up in a discussion of who a hero’s hero could be, but said that she’d learned all of them at her college’s gay club and at lesbian bars.

If she has proof, even if she can’t share it with the world, she can hold it tight to her chest and it would be another reminder of how _this was okay_ to guard her against the world and all the doubts and worries that still plague her. Alex closes her eyes and tries to steady her breathing. “Maggie?” she says, after she’s reasonably certain that her voice isn’t going to wobble.

“Yeah?” If Maggie had noticed anything, she hadn’t said. Just kept her fingers tight around Alex’s, and stayed a solid warmth at her side.

Alex opens her eyes, and smiles at Maggie. “I’m gonna say hi to M’gann. You want to come?”

Maggie grins at her. “Wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

So Alex gathers up her courage and walks across the bar—which, collectively, seems to either not know or not care who M’gann’s friend is, and Alex supposes she should expect that from a population of aliens, but still can’t get over how weird it is—to where M’gann and Wonder Woman sit in a corner, half the fries got in a shorter amount of time than seems plausible, unless Alex factors in how fast _Kara_ can eat and assumes it’s totally reasonable that Wonder Woman can do the same, and she’s not panicking, nope, not panicking at all. Maggie’s hand on her shoulder is totally not the only reason she can calm down enough to speak.

It’s obvious that the two women notice her approaching, and Alex doesn’t quite manage to figure out how to make words work properly before M’gann says, delightedly, “Alex! Maggie! I was hoping I’d get a chance to introduce you to Diana.”

Maggie recovers first, and sticks out a hand. “Hi,” she says, managing to sound like a reasonable adult human who is totally not struck dumb by the presence of a superhero role model. “I’m Maggie.”

Wonder Woman—Diana—smiles and Alex can barely remember how to breathe through how loud her heart is in her ears. She takes Maggie’s hand and shakes it. “It’s lovely to meet you,” she says, and there’s an accent to her words that Alex can’t place. Probably because she appeared from somewhere, and nobody can agree on where, but she says it was an island and it was somewhere around Europe presumably.

Then she turns towards Alex, and extends her hand. Alex takes it reflexively and says, “I’m Alex,” and is surprised and relieved when it doesn’t come out as a squeak or a rush.

Wonder Woman’s hand— _Diana’s_ hand— is calloused and her grip is firm and Diana meets Alex’s eyes steadily and smiles. “It’s wonderful to meet you. M’gann’s telling me tales of your sister’s exploits.” She takes her hand back and gestures at the table. “Please, join us.”

Alex nods. She can’t think past that Wonder Woman knows who Supergirl is. Who _Kara_ is. That’s incredible. She needs to tell Kara. Texting Kara without asking permission to invite Kara over—because there’s no way it wouldn’t end there—would be rude, though. But asking involves remembering how to talk like a coherent adult woman. M’gann moves so that she and W– she and Diana are on one side of the table, and Maggie tugs Alex into a seat on the other side.

“I confess,” Diana says, “it has been some time since I have met another woman whose powers allow her to stand in the world’s spotlight such as your sister’s do. She’s remarkable.”

At about the same time as Alex works her way through Diana’s statement and starts to figure out how to reply, M’gann rolls her eyes and says, “Honestly, Diana, just because I _could_ work alongside you doesn’t mean I _want_ to. Besides, someone needs to take care of all these people.” She flicks her fingers out towards the aliens filling the bar.

Diana lays a hand on M’gann’s shoulder. “I know, k’urra’khul.”

Alex glances at Maggie, who’s hiding her expression of _What?_ about as well as Alex probably is, which is to say not well at all. Alex bites her lip and turns back towards Diana. If they weren’t going to explain, which they probably weren’t, then she could just go back to Diana’s original statement. It’d be fine. “Kara’s amazing,” she says, and she thinks about her sister instead of who she’s talking to. It helps. “She’s still learning how to balance the whole savior-of-the-world thing with a normal life, but that’s okay—it’s only been like a year and a half since she first decided she was gonna be a hero, after all.”

“She’s made quite an impact.” Diana smiles, and Alex braces herself for the effect of sunlight rippling through her core at the sight. She’s pretty sure Diana doesn’t know how much charisma she has. Or at least, how much she’s using it right now. “I don’t believe she’s made the news outside of America, but likely that is for the best. Local heroes can often accomplish more, I’ve found.”

“The personal connection, right?” Maggie jumps in, and Alex leans into her, grateful. “That’s why we’ve got districts. I’m a police officer,” she adds, belatedly.

“A human hero,” Diana murmurs, still smiling.

Maggie blushes.

Alex bites back a teasing comment, both because Maggie probably wouldn’t appreciate it right now and because her phone’s vibrating. She’d turned it to silent when they came in, and the only overrides programmed into that are for emergencies and official business. So she groans and pulls her phone out of her pocket, plugging her other ear as she picks it up and says, “Danvers here.”

“Sorry to interrupt date night,” Agent Vasquez says. She doesn’t sound terribly sorry, Alex thinks, which is uncharitable considering that the DEO doesn’t interrupt her without good reason. “There’s a pack of Viridian Greatstalkers downtown.”

Alex rubs her forehead. Maggie’s talking to Diana about the queer community. How did they get there so fast. She really wants to be able to hear that conversation. Unfortunately, work. So instead, she says, “What are Viridian Greatstalkers?”

“What the computer tells me the translation of an unpronounceable alien name is.”

“Vasquez.”

“Think a gila monster, but the size of a lion. And with the metabolism, personality, and pack strategies of a hyena. Also they’re fast and, y’know. Green.”

“You’ve got Supergirl?”

“She’s already on her way. You’re the closest person who can take charge of the team we’re sending out.”

Alex groans. “Seriously?”

“Danvers, it’s eight-o-clock on a Friday evening. What do you _expect_?”

“I know, I’m sorry.” Alex closes her eyes and sighs. In the background, she can hear the conversation she’s definitely not listening to. Diana’s saying something about Themyscira, and shieldsisters? Which sounds really gay. Alex shakes her head a little and pulls her attention away. She’s a professional. She’s got a job. She’s going to do it. Really. So she says, just as professional as Vasquez has been all along until her last comment, “Where do I meet you, are you sending me gear, and can I bring Maggie along?”

Vasquez snickers at the last question. “In reverse order: Yes, you can have a shooty alien date; yes, I’ll make sure your pretty gun is there; and we’ll be at the intersection of Clinton and Fifth. We’re setting up our enclosure in the park there.”

“Be right there.” Alex hits the end call button and opens her eyes to see the whole table looking at her.

Maggie speaks first. “What are you dragging me into?”

“Giant lizard-monsters.” Alex hesitates, and then meets Diana’s eyes. “You wanted to meet Supergirl?”

This time, when Diana smiles, Alex is ready for it. She says, “This is a lovely opportunity. She won’t mind?”

“Oh,” Alex says, grinning madly, “she’ll love seeing you, too.”

“Excellent.” Diana turns towards M’gann, apologetic. “I’m sorry to cut our conversation short.”

M’gann laughs. “When you’re done, let me know where to meet you, and we can continue. I’ve got all night.”

Diana kisses M’gann’s cheek, and stands. “Please, allow me a moment to change. Then I’d be happy to give you both a ride to this place, though you may need to direct me.”

“Of course,” Alex says automatically, before her mind catches up to the words. Diana’s already gone by then, disappearing in a familiar sort of blur, and Alex says, mostly to Maggie. “Was that an offer to fly us there?”

M’gann laughs and sets her drink back down. “Yes, definitely.”

Maggie grabs Alex’s shoulder, and Alex stares at M’gann, and she knows her mouth is hanging open, just a little, but she can’t get over that. Or that the main thing she can think, right now, is _Kara’s gonna be so jealous_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex may be a gay disaster, but she's still perfectly competent at her job.

Diana wearing “everyday” clothes had already been intimidating and overwhelming and very hot.

Wonder Woman is all that and more.

She’s dressed in the same colors, heart-red not-actually-a-corset, wine-red metal boots that look almost articulated, dusk-blue warrior’s skirt that was shorter than Alex had expected, golden headband emblazoned with the sun, golden bracers that glittered in the light, golden trim on everything she wore, and her golden lasso at her waist. Alex supposes she shouldn’t be surprised by Diana’s choice to keep wearing her own colors. Why not clothe yourself in the colors of love and joy and freedom all the time? It’s not like anyone will notice unless they’re already primed to be thinking about it.

Alex probably also shouldn’t be surprised by how Wonder Woman’s outfit hasn’t changed since the oldest stories she’s heard about it. It still bares almost all of her arms, and her upper chest, and more of her legs than seems reasonable, and Alex is definitely _not_ thinking about all that bare skin and that she’s going to be carried in those muscled arms and wow okay she’s got to be blushing by now and Wonder Woman’s got to notice and she’s just making a mess out of trying to seem cool to Wonder Woman, isn’t she.

Beside her, Maggie’s clutching her arm like Alex is supposed to be a stable point to keep her from falling down. Alex isn’t sure how much help she’s actually giving, but between the two of them, they manage to just be awestruck and not actually falling over, so there’s that minimal amount of dignity at least. It’s about all she can hope for, as Diana walks towards them and her hair billows like she’s in a commercial, and somehow nobody else in the bar seems to notice or care. Or if they do, they’re a lot better about hiding it than she and Maggie are.

Also, M’gann’s laughing at them, Alex is sure. She can hear a giggle from M’gann’s direction, at least.

Alex blinks rapidly and tells herself, _Okay, time to calm down._ She swallows, and her throat’s dry, but that’s okay. It’s movement. She closes her mouth the last little bit and nods, straightening into attention in a way that might even manage to make Lucy proud, though she’s pretty sure nobody—even in the military—ever manages to stand at attention well enough to make Lucy look at them like they’re worthy.

That thought brings Alex up short, and she shakes her head a little, because even if the belated realisation that she had a crush on Lucy is completely out of place right now, it did have the helpful effect of breaking the spell of Wonder Woman’s approach. She can deal with another piece of _Wow, Danvers, you’re gay; how did you not notice sooner?_ later, when it’s just her and Maggie and Maggie can tease her about her cluelessness some more. Right now, Wonder Woman is right in front of her and smiling faintly, in a way that makes Alex suspect she gets this reaction a _lot_ and maybe tries to provoke it sometimes.

“Well then,” Diana says, looking between the two of them. “Are you prepared?”

Maggie straightens, releasing Alex’s arm, and says, “Yes, ma’am,” at the same time as Alex.

Diana grins, and her façade of seriousness melts away. “Then let us depart,” she says, and she strides towards a door without a second glance.

Maggie whispers, “I want to be her when I grow up,” as they turn to follow.

Alex nods agreement as they quicken their pace to catch up to Diana. As soon as the door of the speakeasy closes behind them, Diana steps behind them, grabs them both around their waists, and says, “Hold on.”

There’s a moment in which all Alex can do is notice that Diana’s skin is soft and unscarred and that seems like it should be impossible. Then she realises that she’s being _asked_ to put her arms around Wonder Woman, and then it kicks in that the reason is because probably it would be a bad idea not to be holding on when Wonder Woman starts _flying_.

Alex wraps her arms around Wonder Woman, and her arms cross over Maggie’s. She meets Maggie’s eyes, and sees the same mix of awe, wonder, and disbelief in Maggie’s face as has got to be on hers.

Wonder Woman tenses her muscles, and Alex is hyperaware of the shift, smooth muscle becoming hard and solid against her body, and then she _leaps_ into the air. It doesn’t feel like when Kara flies, and that isn’t even just about the different position: Kara flies like she’s refusing to let gravity define her actions; Diana flies like gravity has no right to touch her at all. It’s smooth and elegant and wind isn’t even tearing into Alex’s face. Diana’s facing into the sky, and Alex remembers to breathe, and then they’ve leveled off above the city.

Alex thinks about the arm around her waist, and how it hasn’t moved once since Wonder Woman put it there, and then unclenches one of her hands and points down at the city. The nice thing about your sister being Supergirl is that you’ve had a lot of time to learn what National City looks like from above, so Alex was pretty sure she was pointing at the right intersection when she says, “Over there.”

Diana looks down, following the line of her finger, and then drops. Dives. Alex can’t tell which is more appropriate, because her brain is screaming that this isn’t safe, and as much as she loves rollercoasters and as much as she’s learned to trust Kara’s ability to fly, this new person and this new not-quite-right way of flying mean that the oldest instincts in her head are reasserting themselves and all she can think is _Fuck we’re all gonna crash_ even as her brain tries to yell over that and assert that _Diana knows what she’s doing_.

Maggie’s face is more terrified than hers, the bit of her that’s thinking about anything other than the rapid downward movement towards the city tells her. Alex wants to touch her, to reassure her, but since that involves yelling over the wind as well as being able to actually move in any way, she can’t.

Then Wonder Woman slows, three stories above the ground, and turns towards a commotion that Alex can easily hear now that adrenaline is turning from _DEATH AWAITS_ to _DANGER NEARBY_. Her internal, instinctual, monologue about wanting to have her hands on a gun is comforting, even if occasionally her more directed thoughts over it turn into _I wish I didn’t need to rely on guns so much_ after a while if she actually has enough time to think and not just act while her desire for a gun is loud in her head.

She recognises the DEO vans up ahead. They must’ve just arrived, by how they weren’t surrounded by unloaded equipment. “Those are my people,” she says, and Wonder Woman nods. They touch down right as the vans start unloading, and Alex stifles a laugh at how the agents, normally so quick and efficient, stutter to a halt to stare at Wonder Woman. Apparently being around Supergirl didn’t make the arrival of a new hero any less wondrous.

“She’s here to help,” Alex says loudly, letting go of Diana. There’s regret for that necessity hovering somewhere in the back of her head, but she’s got work to do and that’s taking over. “Keep unloading. Get us uniforms and weapons.” As the agents start moving again, the voice of command overriding their awe enough so that they were only sneaking glances at Diana instead of outright staring, Alex points at the agent wearing an Operations badge on their uniform. “You, talk to me. What’s the situation?”

“Nine biosignatures in the park, ma’am.” As the agent turns towards her, Alex recognises her as Tanya Yeung. Solid agent. Not the most inventive, but rigorous and dependable. Followed orders even when they made no obvious sense, which more than made up for her bias towards following procedure unless otherwise instructed. Agent Yeung only glances once at Diana and Maggie before fixing her eyes on Alex. “This new asset—powers?”

Alex waves at Diana, inviting her to speak for herself. Wonder Woman steps up beside her and says, “Flight and strength are perhaps the most relevant ones, if these are not sentient.”

“Great.” Agent Yeung pulls out a tablet. Alex catches sight of what had to be a Google maps display overlaid with yellow pings and a green X. “You know how to use one of these?”

Diana nods.

“We’re at the X. Try and herd them closer to us. Supergirl’s gonna join you in probably a minute.” Agent Yeung holds out the tablet. “Take it so you can keep track of it. Also so that we can contact you.”

“Thank you,” Diana says. She takes the tablet and launches into the air in the same movement.

Alex only lets herself watch Wonder Woman go for a second before striding towards the vans. “Agent Vasquez said you’d have uniforms and my gun.”

“Yes, ma’am. In the other van.”

Alex grunts acknowledgement and waves Agent Yeung off to do her job. Maggie keeps pace with her as they get into the now-unloaded van. Outside, where all the agents were, was a portable dog run. Hopefully it had been reinforced so that the Viridian Greatstalkers or whatever couldn’t just tear it apart, since alien beasts were almost always stronger than run-of-the-mill Earth dogs. Inside, as promised, were two DEO uniforms, one standard-issue DEO pistol, and her lovely alien gun.

“Nice of them to send a uniform for me,” Maggie says. She pulls the door to the van closed and strips efficiently and shamelessly, pulling the uniform on more quickly than Alex manages.

The delay in Alex getting her uniform on, she has to admit, might have been because the sight of Maggie in a DEO uniform was going to get stuck in her head and play a major part in her dreams. The uniforms are close-fitting, and Maggie looks good in black. Alex shakes her head at herself and finishes zipping everything up. As she settles her gun’s holster, she says, “We do try to be nice.” Then she pauses, and adds, more quietly and sheepishly, “Vasquez might also be trolling me. Or trying to make up for interrupting our date.”

Maggie kisses Alex’s cheek. “This is going to be at least as fun as what we’d planned,” she says with a bright grin. “More dangerous, but that’s part of the joy, right?”

Alex laughs and pushes the door open. “I’m so glad you agree with me on that.”

They’re met with the sight of Supergirl hovering a few inches above the ground, getting handed her own tablet display by Agent Yeung. Alex waves at Kara, and gets a brief smile of acknowledgement before Kara flies off in almost the same direction as Diana had gone. “I want to see her face when they meet,” Maggie whispers.

“Me too.” Alex looks around at her agents, who are mostly arrayed around their portable dog park, and sighs. “Right.” She raises her voice and shouts, “Alright, what’s the half-assed plan you’ve got right now?”

“Herd them in here?” one of the agents calls back. It sounds like they realise that this plan sounds ridiculous as they’re saying it, based on how their words trail off into a question instead of the strong statement she’s pretty sure they’d intended it to be.

Alex walks up to the enclosure and raises her eyebrows. “Okay, but what if we let the nice strong ladies who’re flying around just, y’know, pick up the alien beasties and drop them in here?”

Behind her, Alex hears Maggie choke a little. In front of her, the agents look at each other and then start to smile.

“Great, good to know we’ve got a plan. Yeung!” Alex doesn’t turn away from her ground agents.

“Ma’am?”

“Let Supergirl and Wonder Woman know the updated plan.” All the agents’ expressions are priceless. Alex schools her own face into the hard mask of an authority figure, holding back her manic grin at letting _that_ piece of information drop. And then, because if they’re going to have a rumor mill anyway, she may as well fuel it, she adds, “Yes, that _is_ who she is, and no, I’m _not_ explaining why she dropped us off.”

“I’ll let them know, ma’am,” Agent Yeung says, her voice barely audible above the generalised commotion of the agents muttering to each other more loudly than they think. Not that Yeung managed to have a loud voice to begin with. But it was the principle of the matter.

Maggie snickers, and then says, “What’s my role, Danvers?”

Alex looks back at her, confident and unafraid, and smiles. “Same as the rest of this lot.”

“I’m better than half of that lot.”

“Yes, but they’re officially my command, and you’re just tagging along.”

Maggie rolls her eyes, and Alex raises her voice again. “This means we’ve got to be ready for them to come in. If there are security measures on this fence that won’t interfere with things being dropped inside, activate them. Get tranq guns out, and operate in pairs; one person with a tranq gun, the other with a normal gun. Try the tranqs first if necessary.”

A ragged chorus of acknowledgement came from the agents, and five agents started jogging over to the vans, presumably to grab the tranq guns. Two of the others head towards what was probably the control unit for the fence. The rest spread out along the containment unit itself, looking outward for potential threats. Alex lets herself breathe for a moment, very grateful for the park having a large enough flat grassy picnic area that they could contain the aliens and not block traffic forever.

Then she looks up, and sees someone flying through the air holding...

Well, a giant lizard thing. A Viridian Greatstalker, presumably.

It’s about as big as the person flying, who Alex thinks is Kara based on fluttering red probably-cape, and Alex curses as she realised how big these things are and how small the fenced area seems now. She shouts, “Tranqs!” and gestures for Maggie to follow her closer to the fence.

The fence hisses, pops, and then starts buzzing quietly. Alex stops short as the hair all over her body raises slightly. “You sure that’s safe?” she calls to the agents who turned the fence’s safety features on.

The shrug she gets in return is not comforting.

Kara drops the Viridian Greatstalker into the enclosure without any fanfare. It twists as it falls, more like a cat than the lizard it resembles, and lands on its feet. Almost immediately, it heads towards the closest wall—and, incidentally, Alex and Maggie—with a hiss. Alex steps back into a firing position automatically, and she’s vaguely aware of Maggie doing the same next to her. As soon as the Greatstalker touches the fence, though, there’s flash and _crack_.

When Alex blinks her eyes clear, the Viridian Greatstalker looks a bit grayer, and is sprawled out on the grass in the middle of the enclosure. Alex breathes out, heart pounding. Forcing her force to be louder and steadier than seems reasonable, she shouts, “Turn it down a little! We don’t want to kill them.”

She hears the acknowledgement and holsters her gun again. Kara’s still in the sky, and Alex looks up at her, waiting for the inevitable.

Kara dives down and lands, fairly softly, in front of her. Her face is flushed and she’s talking almost before she touches the ground. “Wonder Woman? Here? Is that real?”

“You haven’t seen her?‘ Alex asks.

Maggie adds, “She gave us a ride here,” in almost the smuggest voice Alex has ever heard from her.

Kara looks between the two of them, her eyes and mouth all wide, and then says, “ _What?_ ”

Alex pats her on the shoulder. “Diana wanted to help, and we said yes, and she’ll be around after we get this cleared up, okay?”

“Diana,” Kara repeats. Then the implications hit her, and she jolts into the air a little. “You’re on a first-name basis with _Wonder Woman_?”

Alex smiles smugly. “Go finish this up and you can be too.”

Kara grumbles, but does fly into the sky. Alex watches her go, and she can tell the moment that Kara sees Diana bringing in a Greatstalker of her own, because Kara almost falls out of the sky in shock.

Maggie giggles, and Alex only keeps herself from joining it because she’s supposed to be in charge of this nonsense.

An agent carrying two tranq guns jogs over to them and holds one out. “I know you’ve got your gun, ma’am, but for your partner?”

“Thank you,” Maggie says, voice much more serious than her smile. “I appreciate it.”

“Of course,” the agent replies. She runs off to her own assignment, and Alex watches as Diana sets her Greatstalker down more gently than Kara did. During the pause while it’s on the ground and Wonder Woman’s still holding on, Alex hears three tranq guns go off, and all of them hit home. The Viridian Greatstalker tries to take a step and falls over, breathing heavily but still clearly alive.

Alex gives Diana a thumbs-up as she takes off again, and takes up her station around the humming fence.

The rest of the collection is a lot less dramatic. It’s mostly just time-consuming, in fact. A lot of standing around and staring at sleepy lizards and making sure they don’t hurt themselves on the fence. Alex thinks it’s electrified, but she can’t be absolutely certain. Either way, she’s not going to try poking it, or even getting close to it. There’s no reason to do so, anyway.

When Kara brings in the seventh Viridian Greatstalker, Alex calls back to base and asks for a truck to come collect the Greatstalkers and take them back to the DEO for holding. Vasquez isn’t the one who picks up, and as much as Alex wasn’t looking forward to another round of teasing about her alien shooting date, she’s disappointed by not hearing from her friend. The agent who picks up is fine—he listens to her request and tells her that they’ll send someone out to collect the Greatstalkers as soon as possible—but it’s not the same.

The eighth and ninth Viridian Greatstalkers come in at the same time, from different corners of the park. Maggie shoots tranq darts into them with the rest of the crew, and then Kara and Diana hope over the fence and land by Alex and Maggie.

Alex looks at them, then at the DEO team, and makes a decision. She turns towards the vans and shouts, “Agent Yeung! I’m going off-duty to deal with superheroes. You’re in charge of making sure the Greatstalkers get taken into custody.”

There’s a pause, but Yeung’s “Yes, ma’am,” is strong and solid. Just like her.

Alex smiles and spins back to her friends. “Right,” she says. “We should probably change back into civilian clothing, unless you want people staring at us.”

“You’re going to hang out with us, right?” Kara says to Diana, all sparkle and charm and sunlight even though the sun’s set by now. “I know you’ve got to have other stuff to do, but you’re awesome and I haven’t met other superheroes, not really.”

Diana laughs. “Of course! Before your sister invited me to join you in corralling these beasts, I had been asking her about your exploits. It’s far better to hear those in person.”

Alex leans against Maggie as Kara’s jaw drops, and her hands fly up to her face, and there’s a high-pitched squeak and something that might’ve been intended to be words but really isn’t. “Her face as good as you were expecting?” Alex murmurs to Maggie.

Maggie snorts a little. “Better.”

Alex misses the next round of Kara trying to talk and Diana waiting patiently with a smile, because Agent Yeung appears in her peripheral vision, holding a bag filled with— “Your clothes, ma’am.”

Maggie takes the bag. “Thanks.” Then she holds out her guns. “You want these back, I assume?”

“Yes, thank you.” Agent Yeung smiles and bows slightly, and then retreats back towards the vans.

“You’ve _heard_ of me?” Kara finally says.

Diana laughs, and moves like she’s about to put her arm around Kara’s shoulders. She stops before she actually does, though she doesn’t step further away, “You remind me of myself as a youth. I pay attention to all those who could have been daughters of Themyscira.”

Kara looks at Diana, actually _notices_ her posture, and then tackles Diana in a hug that Alex is almost certain would have knocked over a mortal woman. Diana merely takes a step back to brace herself and returns the hug. Kara’s babbling something, but it’s Kryptonian mixed with English, and the words are flying so fast and fragmented that _Alex_ can’t tell what she’s saying.

“Slow down,” Diana says, laughing. “I’m still going to be here when you let go.”

“You were my role model,” Kara says. She lets go, and fidgets with the edges of her cape. “Growing up, I mean. I wanted to be you.”

“And now,” Diana says, eyes dancing and voice serious, “you’re going to be that inspiration to the daughters of National City, if not the world. I believe you have succeeded in your goal.”

Kara flushes bright red.

Alex hides her laughter as best she can, instead looking at Maggie, whose smile is just as big. Alex wraps an arm around her girlfriend’s shoulder and says, “I think we should go change clothes. We could go back to the speakeasy, and then we can pick up M’gann, too?”

“And then ice cream. And potstickers.” Kara bounces onto her toes, though not quite into the air. “We aren’t staying there. You can all come to my place?”

Diana laughs. “If that is your wish, and M’gann is amenable.”

“She will be,” Kara says instantly. “How do you know her?”

“It’s a long story, and more hers to tell than mine.” Diana turns to Alex and Maggie. “You will need a ride, will you not?”

“Yes.” Maggie lifts Alex’s arm and walks over to Diana, waving Alex towards Kara. She smirks, and says, “We’ll see you there.”

Diana, taking that as her cue, picks Maggie up—much more gently than the first time, which having both arms probably helps—and soars into the air.

Kara looks at Alex. “M’gann introduced you?”

“Wonder Woman walked into the speakeasy literally just to meet M’gann,” Alex says. She steps up to Kara and slings an arm over her shoulders. “So, of course, we went over to say hi.”

“I’d be jealous except you brought her here.” Kara takes hold of Alex and jumps up, following Diana across the city. “This is _so cool_.”

Alex does her best to hug Kara. It’s awkward, in the air, but she gets the point across anyway, she thinks. “I’m glad you get to meet her.”

Kara laughs, her smile’s big enough that Alex barely understands how she’s still talking, and she says, “Me too.”


	3. Chapter 3

Kara catches up to Diana as they land. Alex has no idea if she’s actually faster—though, since she’s faster than her cousin, that might be true—or if it’s just home-ground advantage.

If Diana sticks around, Alex would be surprised if they _didn’t_ figure that out somehow. Kara’s competitive streak would come out, once the hero-worship wore off. But for now, Alex just walks at a normal human pace through the speakeasy, Maggie at her side, and watches the way Kara dashes off to change clothes. Convincing her that keeping an extra set of clothes at places like the DEO and the speakeasy would be useful was finally paying off properly.

Diana had also sped off with the blur Alex has come to associate with superheroes. Alex can’t tell if she’s more interested in them accidentally running into each other as they sped around, or them not quite noticing what each other was doing. Either way could be amusing.

Halfway through the speakeasy, M’gann stops them with a look. Her raised eyebrow is very evocative, and the purse of her mouth as Alex turns towards her properly makes Alex wince a little.

“So,” M’gann says lightly, “are you all here for me?”

Maggie snickers. “Kara wants to have ice cream with Diana.”

“You’re welcome to come along,” Alex adds. “We’re taking the bikes.”

“And changing back to civilian clothes.”

M’gann shakes her head, but she’s smiling. “Yes, of course I’ll join you.”

“Clothes,” Maggie repeats, tugging at Alex’s arm. 

“Yes, yes, okay,” Alex says, and she follows Maggie past the social areas of the speakeasy and to the collection of (surprisingly clean, though it shouldn’t still be a surprise since they’re always this clean) single-stall bathrooms. They both enter one of them, and Alex locks the door. 

It’s quick work to change back into their civilian clothes. Neither of them had bothered dressing up, really; t-shirts and jeans are casual and neither of them get to wear them enough. Alex finishes changing first, this time, and puts that down to how she can strip out of a DEO uniform without even thinking at this point. More helpful to the speed, really, is the knowledge that she _doesn’t_ need to be distracted by Maggie’s thighs while changing. It’s likely that she’ll get to see them again, in less complicated circumstances, later.

Maggie points at a bag as Alex finishes pulling on her jeans, and Alex nods thanks. She starts folding up her DEO uniform, and as she does, Maggie says, “So, ice cream?”

“Yeah.” Alex shrugs and looks up at Maggie, who’s still only half-dressed. It’s a lot easier to ignore than Diana fully dressed, which is unfair but also how being familiar with someone works, she supposes. “Is... that’s okay, right?”

“I’m not going to make you go to the vegan place again.” Maggie pushes her hair out of her face and smiles, unselfconscious in her shirtlessness. “I don’t think Kara would stand for it, and I don’t think it’s open this late anyway.”

“We don’t need to stick with them all for the whole evening.”

“I do want to watch them interact.”

“Admit it, you want to admire Diana too.” Alex finishes folding her uniform and sticks it in Maggie’s bag, dodging Maggie’s playful shove. “Or figure out what she and M’gann are to each other.”

“I did that already, when you were on the phone.”

Alex scowls at Maggie, more for her girlfriend’s laugh than anything else. “Spill?”

“I think the translation was heart-sisters?” Maggie finally actually puts her shirt on, not that the tank top makes Alex want to look at her any less. “I think it’d be queerplatonic, in modern culture?”

“Okay.” Alex chews on the inside of her mouth as she folds Maggie’s borrowed uniform. Maggie lets the silence stretch, until Alex makes the final folds and says, “That’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah.”

Alex puts the borrowed uniform in Maggie’s bag and stands, slinging the bag over her shoulder as she moves. She steps next to Maggie and nudges her shoulder briefly.

Maggie turns to her with a smile and wraps an arm around her waist, tugging her close enough to kiss, gentle and quick. When Maggie pulls back, it’s with a smirk, and she says, “Ice cream with them, and then home.”

“Good plan,” Alex says.

They’re the last ones ready, Alex sees as they step out. That isn’t surprising, since they’re mere mortals, not aliens or superhumans. Diana’s back in her flowing dress, and Kara’s dressed like she’s going to work, not hanging out with friends. Alex smiles a little at that. Nobody seems put off by the time they took, and Kara isn’t even literally vibrating with impatience; she’s just bouncing and talking animatedly about her work at CatCo as a reporter. M’gann’s heard most of it before, Alex is pretty sure, but Diana seems honestly fascinated and delighted by what Kara’s saying, even though Kara’s speaking fast enough that Alex is having a hard time catching all the words.

When they reach the others, M’gann and Diana greet them, and Kara gives them a quick grin as they move outside. They’re taking their bikes, so that they don’t need to come back to the speakeasy after. And so that flight doesn’t attract attention when they’re pretending to be normal people for once. M’gann has a small motorbike of her own, and Maggie has hers, and then— “I didn’t expect you’d have a motorcycle,” Maggie says, at the sight of a third bike, a beautifully cared for almost-antique.

“I grew up riding horses,” Diana says, nonchalantly. Alex supposes it’s easy to be off-hand about that sort of thing if you’re a living myth. Diana runs a hand along her bike and smiles a little, though her eyes and lips are weighted more than Alex thinks she’s seen before. “Motorcycles make more sense to me than cars, because of that.”

“I’ll show you where we’re going.” Kara stands next to Diana, looking at her like she’s the first stars at night, or the taste of a perfectly roasted marshmallow, or—and Alex has to admit this is probably the best metaphor—an unexpected friend stopping by with food. “If it’s okay that I ride with you?”

Diana’s smile brightens. “Of course.”

“Oh, right.” Kara turns to face Alex and Maggie. “We’re going to Cone Castle.”

“I think I could’ve guessed that,” Alex says. She takes her helmet from Maggie. “We can just ride there as a group, you know.”

Kara glances at Diana, who’s managing to make sitting on a motorcycle in a beautiful dress look like the most natural thing in the world, and then back at Alex, raising her eyebrow. “Oooor we could get there first.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Maaaaybe.”

As Alex laughs, she hears M’gann start her bike’s engine. “That’s cheating,” she and Kara say at almost the same time, sparking them to both laugh more.

“You never said we were racing,” M’gann calls over the noise. “Or what the rules were.”

Before either of the Danvers sisters can say another word, M’gann’s starting to drive away.

Alex puts her helmet on fast, and swings up behind Maggie. She braces herself against her girlfriend without a word, and the feeling of leather and muscle is familiar and warm, just like the rumble of her motorcycle. Maggie gets going before Diana does, and Alex isn’t surprised; Kara never rode along as much to begin with, and they’ve never ridden together.

Not that Alex expects that to stop two superheros from figuring out a way to get there first anyway, since the main limits on how they drive are the actual laws and also the limits of their motorcycle. Alex thinks about that, and shrugs to herself. For once, the outcome of this contest really isn’t what matters to Alex, though. She leans into the wind, and the way the motorcycle feels, and how it’s nice to have free time and spend it with people she loves. It’s a good evening, even if it’s unexpected, and even if the middle part _was_ interrupted by work.

M’gann gets to Cone Castle first. Her bike’s parked before Maggie and Alex get there, and even though they pull up before Diana and Kara do, superhuman speed is good for _something_ , so Diana and Kara are at the building itself first, wind-tossed and laughing. Alex loops her arm around Maggie’s shoulders and smiles at seeing her sister so happy and carefree.

Inside there is an unsurprisingly short line. Alex pulls Maggie in front of Kara, who’s getting into an extended debate with Diana about ice cream sundaes and what the proper ingredients for one are. As they wait, Alex murmurs to M’gann, “Is Diana always like this?”

“Like what?”

“Super intense and invested in everything.”

“Oh, that.” M’gann laughs a little, and it lights up her face. “Yes.”

Alex glances back at Kara and Diana. “I’m glad they can be friends.”

“I am too.”

M’gann gets vanilla frozen yogurt with rainbow sprinkles and oreo bits, which Alex thinks (but doesn’t say) is a boring choice of ice cream with excellent toppings. Alex gets a cup of double-fudge ice cream with strawberries and strawberry sauce for her and Maggie.

Diana and Kara both come over to the table they’re sitting at with bowls of ice cream. Alex recognises Kara’s; it’s a Neapolitan ice cream mix with whipped cream, fudge sauce, and maraschino cherries. Diana’s looks like it’s fruit flavors covered with marshmallows and gummy bears. Alex honestly isn’t sure which of the superheroes has the more hilarious and sugar-filled monstrosity of ice cream, but she’s also sure that they’ll both eat the whole thing in about the same amount of time it’ll take the rest of them to finish their own choices.

Which means, of course, that it takes Kara almost a minute to eat half her ice cream and therefore slow down enough to start asking Diana questions again.

Alex shakes her head at her little sister and leans into the corner of the booth, content.

“I could teach you to fight,” Diana says, eventually.

Kara pauses as her spoon scrapes the bottom of her ice cream bowl. “Are you serious?”

“It has been some time since I’ve had an apprentice.” Diana rests her chin on both hands. She’s still got some ice cream left, slowly melting, but she doesn’t seem as invested in eating it as Kara. “It’s harder to find those who would benefit from and enjoy the Amazonian fighting style, in this era.”

“I would like that yes please,” Kara says, very rapidly. She’s sitting up perfectly straight, in the posture that Alex mentally identifies as ‘I feel like I’m too adult for puppy dog eyes so I’m trying not to do that but I’m doing them anyway’. “I mean I don’t know how that would work when I have a job and superheroing but I would like it a lot.”

“We’ll make it work,” Diana says, and the words have a weight to them that makes Alex shiver a little. Maggie shifts a little closer in response.

Kara swallows her last bite of ice cream and says, “Okay.” A grin spreads over her face, and she laughs a little. “This is going to be so cool.”

“I think so as well.” Even if Diana’s words are calmer and her face more controlled, there’s just as much light in her eyes as in Kara’s.

Alex leans her head forward to whisper to Maggie, “I think we can head off now.”

Maggie nods a little and stands. “It’s been great hanging out with you,” she says, brightly. “But it’s date night, and I’m invoking my right to steal Alex away.”

Alex steps out of the booth behind Maggie and grabs their now-empty ice cream cup. “See you tomorrow,” she says to Kara, and then she turns to Diana and adds, “It’s great meeting you,” like she’s a real adult who hasn’t met a hero of her life.

Diana nods her head in something that’s like a bow or a salute. “And you as well, Alex Danvers.”

Alex slides her hand into Maggie’s and lets her girlfriend pull her out the door, where she’s pretty sure they’re going to go back to one of their apartments and enjoy having some uninterruptible time to themselves. Where they totally won’t just talk about superheroes the whole time.

She even remembers to throw away the cup on the way out.


End file.
